System and method for called party controlled message delivery

ABSTRACT

Disclosed are systems and methods which allow a calling party to store messages for a called party even if the called party does not already have message storage facilities, provided the calling party and/or called party meet certain parameters. Delivery of the message is controlled by the called party and may require the called party to agree to pay for the message delivery service. In a further embodiment, a call processing system is operable to screen outgoing calls from various callers according to a first set of criteria and if a call is not completed to a called party a second set of criteria is used to determine if a message can be stored awaiting retrieval by the called party. If desired, a return message from a called party to a calling party can be stored.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 10/640,505, filed Aug. 13, 2003 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,561,680, andentitled “System and Method for Called Party Controlled MessageDelivery,” the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by referenceherein in its entirety. The present application is related to co-pendingand commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/135,878entitled “Information Management and Movement System and Method,” filedApr. 29, 2002, Ser. No. 10/135,883 entitled “Optimizing Profitability inBusiness Transactions,” filed Apr. 29, 2002, Ser. No. 10/190,315entitled “System and Methods for Offering a Service to a PartyAssociated with a Blocked Call,” filed Jul. 3, 2002, Ser. No. 10/217,149entitled “System and Method for Call Treatment,” filed Aug. 12, 2002,Ser. No. 09/640,831 entitled “System and Method for Reverse Billing of aTelephone Call,” filed Aug. 17, 2000, Ser. No. 10/360,248 entitled“System and Method for Account Establishment and Transaction ManagementUsing Interrupt Messaging,” filed Feb. 7, 2003, and Ser. No. 10/360,442entitled “Systems and Methods for Transaction AuthorizationDetermination,” filed Feb. 7, 2003, the disclosures of which are allhereby incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to communication message delivery and moreparticularly to systems and methods for allowing a called party to payfor and/or control the delivery of stored messages and even moreparticularly to such systems and methods for use with outbound callprocessing systems.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Currently, there are a number of call processing systems that allowcalling parties to place communication connections to called partiesonly when the called party agrees to pay for the connection and onlywhen the called party is deemed creditworthy. Many of these systems alsoimpose other restrictions on such connections. For example, in theprison environment, when an inmate desires to place a call there mightbe a restriction on who the call can be placed to. There might be otherrestrictions, including time of day, number of prior calls, willingnesson the part of the called party to receive (and if necessary, pay for)calls from the calling party. In many situations, such calls can only beplaced to certain individuals and in other systems calls can be placedto anyone not on a restriction list for that inmate.

Restriction lists can, for example, include the names (phone numbers) ofvictims of the inmate, witnesses, law enforcement officers, courtpersonnel, and the like. Because the called party must pay for many ofthese calls, those who have indicated by their past refusal to acceptcollect calls, or those with poor credit histories or which otherwisepresent an unacceptable risk to collection, may also be placed on therestricted list or otherwise cause the call attempt to be blocked. Suchinitial validation logic has been found by the present inventors toblock about thirty percent of call attempts in a typical inmate callingscenario. Of the remaining call attempts, after the calling serviceprovider has expended resources in validating the call attempt, a highpercentage are not connected for one reason or another. Reasons include:the called party does not answer, the called line returns a busy signal,the attempt reaches an answering machine or answering service, or aproblem exists with the called number (misdial, disconnected number,etcetera).

Under existing systems, when the calling party is prevented fromactually connecting to the called party when placing a collect (reversecharge) call, there is no ability to leave messages for the calledparty. This is so even if the called party has an answering machine oranswering service because such machines or services do not have theability to accept charges for collect calls. Also, since the callprocessor handling the calling connection does not detect a voice(“live”) connection, the call is automatically terminated (or in somesystems, not actually fully completed) before a message can be left bythe calling party.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to systems and methods which allowcalls from a calling party to a called party, including calls which arenot immediately completed (e.g., answered by a “live” person), to bestored for later delivery to the called party. This later delivery ispreferably controlled by the called party. According to embodiments ofthe invention, the message is only available to the called party afterthe called party has agreed to pay for the message, perhaps including,if appropriate, the collect charges incurred by the calling party.

In a further embodiment, a call processing system is operable to screenoutgoing calls from various callers according to a first set of criteriaand if a call is not completed to a called party a second set ofcriteria is used to determine if a message should be stored for deliveryto the called party.

In one embodiment, a system and method allows a calling party to storemessages for a called party (or for a plurality of called parties) evenif the called party does not already have message storage facilities,provided the calling party (parties) and/or called party meets certainparameters. In a further embodiment, stored undelivered messages from acalling party to a called party may be deleted when the calling partycompletes a connection to the called party. In a still furtherembodiment, provision is made for notification and/or returning amessage to the calling party when the called party has retrieved themessage.

In a still further embodiment, messages can be stored from a callingparty to a called party even if the system would otherwise prevent thecalling party from communicating directly with the called party.

The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technicaladvantages of the present invention in order that the detaileddescription of the invention that follows may be better understood.Additional features and advantages of the invention will be describedhereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the invention. Itshould be appreciated that the conception and specific embodimentdisclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designingother structures for carrying out the same purposes of the presentinvention. It should also be realized that such equivalent constructionsdo not depart from the invention as set forth in the appended claims.The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of theinvention, both as to its organization and method of operation, togetherwith further objects and advantages will be better understood from thefollowing description when considered in connection with theaccompanying figures. It is to be expressly understood, however, thateach of the figures is provided for the purpose of illustration anddescription only and is not intended as a definition of the limits ofthe present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

For a more complete understanding of the present invention, reference isnow made to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a call management system adapted forproviding message delivery according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of one embodiment of a message deliverysystem; and

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of an embodiment illustrating processing of astored message.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates to a messaging system where a callingparty is enabled to leave a message for a called party, such as when alive call to the called party cannot be completed. The called party canpreferably control retrieval of a stored message, perhaps only afterpaying for the message. A messaging system operable according toembodiments of the invention may monitor subsequent calling activity ofthe calling and/or called party to control or adjust operation ofmessage delivery. For example, if a calling party establishes a livecall with the called party before a previously recorded message isdelivered, the delivery of that message may be aborted. If a calledparty is determined to be present or available, such as throughrecognition of the called party's phone placing or receiving anothercall, message delivery may be attempted, such as through implementinginterrupt messaging techniques with respect to the called party. Also,when a called party retrieves a message (or fails to retrieve a message)the calling party can be so notified the next time the calling partyplaces a call. In addition, in some situations, the called party mayrecord a return message for delivery to the calling party when thecalling party next uses the telephone system. Details with respect tosystem operation recognizing when a call to a particular party has beencompleted and providing interrupt messaging techniques, as may beutilized according to embodiments of the present invention, are shown inthe above referenced patent application entitled “System and Method forAccount Establishment and Transaction Management Using InterruptMessaging.” Details with respect to system operation able to detectoperational status and conditions with respect to a called partytelephone, such as using the signaling system seven (SS7) intelligentnetwork, and as may be utilized according to embodiments of the presentinvention, are shown in the above referenced patent application entitled“System and Method for Call Treatment.”

Systems of the present invention may have application, for instance, insituations where the calling party is not authorized to make post-paidlong distance calls and thus the call would likely be made collect(reverse charge where the called party pays for the connection).Embodiments of the present invention provide a message delivery vehiclewhen such call attempts are not completed. Further, systems of thepresent invention may have application where the calling party has alimited amount of time and opportunity for personal calls. Embodimentsof the present invention provide a system such that even if the callingparty fails to establish an active or “live” connection to the desiredcalled party, a message could be left for the called party, even whenthe called party does not have message storage facilities. In either ofthe above situations, the called party could pay for the message and/orthe original call costs resulting from the called party leaving themessage in order to retrieve the message.

FIG. 1 illustrates messaging system 20 of one embodiment operable incall management system 10. Call management system 10 of the illustratedembodiment comprises a call processor system, shown here as callapplication manager 101, operable to facilitate various callingservices, such as outbound calling, inbound calling, collect calling,pre-paid calling, post-paid calling, etcetera. Detail with respect toembodiments of call processing systems as may be utilized with messagingsystems of the present invention are shown in the above referencedpatent application entitled “Information Management and Movement Systemand Method.” It should be appreciated that messaging system 20 of theillustrated embodiment may comprise program code operable uponprocessors of call application manager 101 and/or otherwise utilizingresources thereof. However, embodiments of the present invention providea messaging system processor-based system platform, such as a computerhaving a central processing unit of the Intel PENTIUM family ofprocessors, memory (e.g., random access memory (RAM), read only memory(ROM), disk storage (hard disk, optical disk, magnetic media, and/or thelike), and suitable input/output devices (voice card, line interface,network interface, and/or the like), which is separate from that of acall application manager system, although some aspects of messagingsystem control algorithms may be present on the call application managersystem to facilitate cooperation between the systems. Such embodimentsmay be useful in providing message delivery services in a callprocessing system in which a plurality of facilities having callapplication manager systems disposed thereat.

In operation of the call processing system shown in FIG. 1, a callingparty, such as calling party 100, may initiate a call by picking up thephone and dialing a desired called party number, such as a numbercorresponding to called party 103 It should be appreciated that,although exemplary embodiments are described herein with reference tocalling party and called party telephones (e.g., plain old telephoneservice (POTS) telephone terminals), the present invention is notlimited to use with telephones. For example, embodiments of the presentinvention may record messages from and/or deliver messages to a widevariety of user devices, such as multi-media computers, video phones,cellular telephones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), etcetera. Itshould also be appreciated that, although embodiments are describedherein with reference to calling party 100 placing a call to calledparty 103, embodiments of the present invention may provide callingservices with respect to any number of calling and called parties(represented as calling parties 100-100 n and called parties 103-103 nin FIG. 1).

Call information, preferably including identification of calling party100, may be provided to call application manager 101 for callprocessing. Call application manager 101 may require calling party 100to enter data, such as may include a personal identification number andpassword, or may otherwise interact with the calling party in processingthe call. For example, according to embodiments of the invention, thecalling party may be enabled to signal the call processing system that alive connection is not presently desired and that message deliveryservice is to be invoked (e.g., a “time-shift” communication service).Accordingly, call application manager 101 may accept data from thecalling party including a delay time for calling and a direction not toimmediately place the call. In addition, in some embodiments the callingparty may desire to be notified when a message is retrieved. Insituations where this feature is an option, the calling party will enterthat data as well. If the calling party desires for a message to bestored for a plurality of called parties, the calling information foreach such called party is entered.

Call application manager 101 of the illustrated embodiment utilizes calldata, preferably including the calling party personal identificationnumber and the called party's phone number, with validation database 102in determining if a particular call or other calling service is to becompleted or otherwise allowed. Call application manager 101 incooperation with validation database 102 may operate to determinewhether or not calling party 100 is approved to call the called party(or called parties), whether the call presents an unacceptable risk forcollection, whether an account associated with the called and/or callingparty includes sufficient funds to pay for the call, whether a billingarrangement exists between the call processor service provider and anentity responsible for billing the called party (parties), and/or otherdeterminations useful in concluding whether a particular call is to becompleted. It should be appreciated, however, that in some situationsall calls may be allowed whereas in other situations rigorous screeningof calls may be performed.

Call application manager 101, in conjunction with validation database102, may perform any number of checks prior to authorizing a callingconnection or other calling service. For instance, the call processingsystem may operate to ascertain if the called party (parties) is likelyto accept, and pay for, collect calls or calls billed to an account(prepaid or otherwise) paid for by the called party (parties). Forexample, call application manager 101 may determine whether historicalinformation in validation database 102 indicates that the called partydeclined calls recently or that the called party has previously acceptedcalls. A partial list of such criteria includes: prior acceptance ofcollect calls from said calling party; prior acceptance of collect callsfrom any party; calling and/or called party appearing on a prestoredlist; calling and/or called party not appearing on a prestored list;calling and/or called party not falling within a certain category orranking; calling and/or called party falling within a certain categoryor ranking; called party accepting previous messages from the callingparty; and cost of the calling connection not exceeding a certainamount. Note that when there are multiple called parties for a singlemessage these checks could, if desired, be made for all parties.

In an embodiment providing calling services with respect to a prisonfacility, call application manager 101 using validation database 102 mayoperate to determine whether or not the called phone number (numbers) islinked to the victim of the prisoner, the judge, a member of the jury,the state prosecutor, or the like. If the call is directed to such anunauthorized party, call application manager 101 may prevent the callfrom being completed. In such a prison embodiment, calls placed bycalling party 100 are likely to be charged to the called party (e.g.,collect, direct billed, local exchange carrier (LEC) billed, etcetera)or pre-paid (e.g., debited from an account associated with the callingparty, debited from an account associated with the called party, debitedfrom an account associated with a third party, etcetera). Accordingly,call application manager 101 using validation database 102 may operateto determine if sufficient monies are present or if risk of collectingmonies for the calling service are unacceptable. Details with respect tomaking validation determinations with respect to a call, a callingparty, and a called party are shown in the above referenced patentapplications entitled “Optimizing Profitability in BusinessTransactions,” “System and Method for Call Treatment,” and “Systems andMethods for Transaction Authorization Determination.”

It should be appreciated that validation database 102 of the illustratedembodiment may be utilized for making determinations other than whethera particular calling service should be allowed. Embodiments of thepresent invention utilize validation database 102 in makingdeterminations with respect to various aspects of calling services. Forexample, in the aforementioned prison scenario embodiment, usingvalidation database 102 may determine if a call is being placed to thecalling party's attorney. If so, information may be provided to callapplication manager 101 instructing call application manager 101 not torecord the conversation, in order to protect the attorney-clientprivilege.

After making a calling service validation determination using validationdatabase 102, call application manager 101 according to one embodimentattempts to establish a communication connection with the called party,such as called party 103, via network 104. However, if the calling partyhad indicated that a live connection was not presently desired and thatmessage delivery service was to be invoked, then according toembodiments of the invention no attempt would be made to complete a“live” call via network 104. Network 104 utilized according toembodiments of the present invention may comprise the public switchedtelephone network (PSTN), a private network, a data network, theInternet, a wireless network, and/or the like.

If the aforementioned call is made collect, when the called party isunavailable (does not answer live, e.g., a ring with no answer or theline is busy) the connection may be terminated without calling party 100being allowed to communicate with anyone or anything associated withcalled party 103. This is so since a message typically cannot be left onthe called party's answering machine without the charges being acceptedby the called party. Under this situation, if called party 103 isunavailable, then calling party 100 may loses his/her window of timeallocated for making phone calls.

It should be appreciated that a calling service provider associated withcall processing system 10 may receive no revenues or reduced revenuesfor the aforementioned uncompleted call attempt. Moreover, the callingservice provider may have expended appreciable resources and money, suchas the cost of the connection from calling party 100 to call applicationmanager 101, in making the call attempt. Accordingly, it may beadvantageous to facilitate delivery of a message from the calling partyto the called party, both to increase user satisfaction with the callingservices provided and to increase the opportunity for collectingrevenues by the calling service provider.

Facilitating such message delivery is likely to expose the callingservice provider to additional expenditures of resources and money.However, embodiments of the present invention, including those describedabove, have already performed a call validation, thereby providing atleast an initial qualification showing that one or more of the partiesmeet a first set of criteria, e.g., call validation criteria.Accordingly, calling situations presenting a very high risk of not beingable to complete the service and/or collect monies for providing theservice, such as where a called party is known not to accept calls fromthe calling party, may already be eliminated from the calls for whichthe additional expense of message delivery are considered by the firstset of criteria.

However, providing message delivery services may present unacceptablerisk of not being able to complete the service and/or collect monies forproviding the service, and therefore continue to be uneconomical, to acalling service provider even where the aforementioned first set ofcriteria are met. Accordingly, embodiments of the present inventionimplement a second set of criteria, e.g., message delivery servicecriteria, to determine if a message delivery service is offered to acalling party, such as upon unsuccessful completion of a call.Information useful as message delivery service criteria, as may bestored in validation database 102 and utilized by call applicationmanager 101 and/or messaging system 20, may include whether the calledparty is known to not accept calls from the calling party, whether thecalled party has not retrieved messages left in the past, a number ofmessages left by a calling party for delivery, a number of messages leftfor a called party for delivery, an expected or estimated cost ofdelivering a message to the called party, and/or the like.

Assuming called party 103 does not respond to the original callingconnection (or the call was marked for a time-shift) and assuming theparties are otherwise determined to be eligible for call messagedelivery services, then call application manager 101 may inform callingparty 100 that he/she has the opportunity to leave a message for calledparty 103. Calling party 100 then, if he/she desires, communicates withmessaging system 20, perhaps via call application manager 101, in orderto leave a message for called party 103. For example, call applicationmanager 101 may initially record a message from calling party 100 andforward the message to messaging system 20 for storage and delivery.Alternatively, call application manager 101 may place calling party 100in communication with messaging system 20 for recording of a message.After receiving a message, messaging system 20 preferably initiatescommunication with called party 103, such as making periodic callattempts to the called party, monitoring calls placed through callapplication manager 101 to identify a call answered by called party 103,communicating with network elements of network 104 (such as SS7signaling control points (SCPs) to detect call activity at a phoneassociated with called party 103, and/or the like, to deliver themessage.

It should be appreciated that the aforementioned recording of a messagemay include information in addition to or in the alternative to messagecontent for the called party. For example, the calling party mayindicate a preferred time for delivery of the message, an estimated timewhen the called party may be available for contact, a time by which themessage is to be delivered or the delivery attempt aborted, a maximumcharge to be incurred for message delivery, alternative contactinformation to utilize in initial or subsequent message deliveryattempts, and/or the like. The alternative contact information might bea set of called numbers associated with the same called party orassociated with several called parties, so that messages indicating thatthe calling party has stored a message can be delivered to manylocations.

Embodiments of the invention accommodate payment for message deliveryservices by any of a number of parties (e.g., the calling party, thecalling party, a third party, etcetera) and by any of a number ofmethods (e.g., by pre-paid account, post-paid account, LEC billing,direct billing, credit card, check by phone, mobile and electroniccommerce techniques, etcetera). However, operation of embodiments inparticular situations, such as where the original call attempt bycalling party 100 was placed as a collect call and the calling party hasnot otherwise provided payment for the message delivery service, beforemessaging system 20 will deliver the message, called party 103 (oralternate called parties) must agree to pay the charges for delivery ofthe message, such as by authorizing billing for the retrieval of themessage, providing credit or debit account information, etcetera. Thecost to the called party for message delivery may include the cost ofthe call from calling party 100 to call application manager 101.

Although embodiments have been described above with reference to aninmate facility, it should be appreciated that the present invention isnot limited to situations in which the calling party is disposed withinsuch a facility and the called party is disposed without such afacility. Messages delivered according to embodiments of the presentinvention may be initiated external to a facility for which messagedelivery services are provided. Moreover, messages may be initiated anddelivered within such a facility, if desired. For example, prisonadministration may utilize and embodiment of messaging system 20 todeliver messages to an inmate or a group of inmates, such as to notifythe inmates of a change in visitation hours, to notify an inmate ofhis/her transfer to a different cell block, to notify an inmate ofhis/her hearing date, etcetera. Of course, the present invention is notlimited to use with respect to such facilities and, therefore, may beimplemented in any of a number of scenarios, including providing callingservices to the public at large.

Directing attention to FIG. 2, further detail with respect to anembodiment of messaging system 20 is shown. It should be appreciatedthat, according to alternative embodiments of the present invention,various functional aspects shown in messaging system 20 of FIG. 2 may beprovided elsewhere in call processing system 10, such as within callapplication manager 101.

Messaging system 20 of the embodiment of FIG. 2 includes useridentification logic 210 which is operable to determine whether callingparty 100 is authorized to leave messages and/or whether called party103 is authorized to receive phone messages (e.g., analyzes messagedelivery service criteria). User identification logic 210 of embodimentsof the invention communicates with user database 202 and/or validationdatabase 102, for this purpose.

As discussed above, a variety of factors can be considered indetermining whether message delivery services are to be providedincluding, but not limited to, the number of stored messages alreadystored for called party 103, the number of stored messages from callingparty 100 associated with a particular called party 103, the number ofpreviously obtained stored messages by called party 103, the time lapsesince the last stored message directed to called party 103, the timelapse since the last stored message from calling party 100, a categoryor ranking (e.g., a decile rating as shown in the above referencedpatent application entitled “Optimizing Profitability in BusinessTransactions”) of called party 103, whether storage of messages isblocked for called party 103, and the availability of message storageprivileges for calling party 100. In some situations, none of theabove-identified factors are used and in some situations other factorsare appropriate.

According to embodiments of the invention, techniques for controlling acalling party's ability to leave messages may utilize the callingparty's identification and/or message delivery privileges (perhaps withrespect to the particular called party or number called) are verified,such as through the use of a personal identification number (PIN),personal access number (PAN), biometric data (e.g., voice print, irisscan, retinal scan, finger print, etcetera), and/or the like todetermine if a message is to be taken and/or delivered. Additionally oralternatively, embodiments of the invention may implement othertechniques for controlling the ability of a calling party to leavemessages, such as by controlling the number of outstanding (e.g.,undelivered) messages a particular caller may leave, controlling thetotal number of message a particular caller may leave, and/orcontrolling the frequency (velocity) a calling party may leave messages.Such techniques may be particularly useful with respect to a callingparty and/or called party associated with a controlled environment(e.g., prison) facility, such as to prevent harassing messages ormessages spawned out of the party being idle.

Implementing the aforementioned message delivery criteria may bedesirable because messaging system 20 is likely to have a finite amountof storage space and bandwidth for storing and delivering messages, andit does not make economic sense to accept messages for a called partywho never claims them or when the called party does not have the creditnecessary to pay for the message. Even where the called party is payingfor the message delivery service, the aforementioned message deliverycriteria may be implemented to provide such features as a “pay only ifthe message is delivered” business model, without the calling serviceprovider taking unacceptable business risks.

When all applicable criterion are met, e.g., call validation criteriaand/or message delivery criteria are met, calling party 100 may leave amessage (voice, data or mixed) with messaging system 20 for delivery tocalled party 103. Accordingly, additional logic of messaging system 20may be invoked after operation of user identification logic 210 asdescribed above.

Calling party 100 may, under some situations, re-direct the messageaddress or redirect the means of delivery for message delivery to calledparty 103 at a phone (or set of phones, e-mail addresses, etc.) otherthan one initially dialed when making a call attempt. This would behelpful, for example, when a calling party does not know for sure wherea person is, or when the calling party needs assistance from any one ofa number of people located at different locations, or having differentphone numbers. Address identification logic 201 of one embodimentassists calling party 100 in determining the proper location for messagedelivery or in facilitating message delivery (e.g., implementing amessage trigger for notifying the called party of the message). Forinstance, if calling party 100 had dialed the called party's land-linetelephone and the connection was not established, the calling partymight wish to have an e-mail sent to called party 103 that triggers thecalled party to access messaging system 20 to receive the message.Additionally or alternatively, address identification logic 201 may beutilized to provide information with respect to different messagedelivery points associated with the called party (or parties) tooptimize the opportunity to deliver the message (e.g., provide a cellphone number for calling in addition to or in the alternative to theland-line telephone originally called).

Address identification logic 201 may operate to make a determination asto whether the re-directed address (or additional parties) meets thecriteria for connection, such as by cooperating with user identificationlogic 202 (discussed above), accessing validation database 102, and/oraccessing user database 213. For example, address information logic 201may interact with validation database 102 to confirm that the address ison an approved list and/or that the address is not on a disapprovedlist. Functionality in addition to validating the address may beprovided by address identification logic 201, such as to ensure that themessage is stored, but not retrievable by anyone other than the calledparty where calling party 100 is a prisoner leaving a message forhis/her attorney.

Assuming called party 103 is an approved message recipient, messagestorage logic 203 is invoked according to the illustrated embodiment,thereby allowing calling party 100 to leave a message for called party103. Message storage/retrieval logic 203 preferably sends the message tomessage storage drive 204 which could be implemented with any storagedevice, including a hard-drive, flash memory, tape, storage area network(SAN), etcetera. After the message is stored in message storage drive204, confirmation logic 205 preferably confirms to calling party 100that the message was saved properly and that it will be delivered tocalled party 103, or to other identified parties.

Message storage/retrieval logic 203 may store information in addition tothe content of the message to be delivered. For example, calling party100 may be prompted to speak his/her name for announcement of the sourceof the message to called party 103 when notified of the pending messageby messaging system 20. Such utterances may be obtained during callingparty identification (e.g., step 202 discussed above) for use not onlyin identifying the calling party to the called party, but for biometricanalysis (e.g., voice print). However, to avoid delivery of asurreptitious message in such a notification without payment for themessage delivery service (e.g., the calling party states a very briefmessage rather than his/her name), embodiments of the present inventionutilize such technology as speech-to-text in order to analyze theutterance and/or avoid delivery of a surreptitious message. Embodimentsof the invention may utilize a trusted source of information (e.g., adatabase maintained by the message service provider) to obtain thecalling party's identification for announcement to a called party. Forexample, a calling party's PIN, PAN, or biometric data may be utilizedto retrieve the calling party's identity for announcement to the calledparty.

It should be appreciated that operation of message storage logic 203 ofthe present invention is not limited to facilitating the recording of anew message. For example, message storage/retrieval logic 203 could, ifdesired, abort delivery attempts and remove any previous undeliveredmessages between calling party 100 and called party 103. This messagedelivery abortion and removal may similarly occur when, on a subsequentcall, a connection is made between calling party 100 and called party103, or when the called party retrieves the message. Also, in somesituations it may be desirable, for security reasons, to store messagesfor security review (or to review the messages prior to delivery). Insuch situations, storage/retrieval logic 203, in cooperation withstorage drive 204, would control such security review. If desired, aseparate section of memory or a separate memory, could be used. Messagedelivery logic 208 could deliver such messages for security review 212,if desired. This review would be by a third party, which could be livereview or machine review.

Message triggering logic 206 of embodiments of the invention is used toinform the called party, such as called party 103, that a message iswaiting in the system. According to one embodiment, message triggeringlogic 206 places a call to called party 103 to inform the called partythat a message awaits. For example, the called party may be informed ofthe pending message through periodic call attempts placed to the calledparty by messaging system 20, e.g., placing a series of calls to thecalled party every 30 minutes until a call is answered or until athreshold or other terminating condition is reached (such as apredetermined period of time, a predetermined number of call attempts,the calling party successfully places a call to the called party,etcetera). Various calling patterns may be implemented according to thepresent invention, such as message triggering logic 206 repeatedlycalling the called party once an hour between 8:00 A.M. and 10:00 P.M.for a number of days (e.g., three days) to notify the called party thata message awaits.

Additionally or alternatively, the called party may be informed of thepending message by messaging system 20 providing a signal that actuatesa lamp, buzzer, special ring tone, special dial tone, or other indicatorat the called station. Embodiments of the present invention may providefor notification of a pending message through user devices in additionto or in the alternative to the called station. For example, in thesituation where calling party 100 specifies that he/she wishes an e-mailbe sent to called party 103, informing the called party of a message,(or where called party 103 has previously indicated a preference fore-mail notification) that e-mail preferably provide a phone numberassociated with messaging system 20 or other information which calledparty 103 could utilize to access the system to retrieve the message.Other pending message notification systems which may be utilizedaccording to embodiments of the invention include cell phones (e.g.,short message service (SMS)), pagers, PDAs, computers, and/or the like.For example, a particular called party may establish a prepaid accountfor delivery of messages (or for some other purpose, such as purchase ofcommissary items) and indicate a preferred method of notification (e.g.,e-mail, text messaging, etcetera) which is utilized by messaging system20 in delivering notification of pending messages. In one embodiment,the called party (or parties) are given a number to call (or a server toaccess) for message retrieval.

Message trigger logic 206 of embodiments of the invention supportsinbound and/or outbound communications from/to a called party fornotification and/or delivery of a pending message. For example, messagetrigger logic 206 may receive a call from called party 103 to querymessage trigger logic 206 as to whether any undelivered messages arepending. Additionally or alternatively, embodiments of the presentinvention may operate to monitor calling activity with respect to thecalled party (or the calling party for notification of messageretrieval) and implement interrupt messaging, including those shown anddescribed in the above referenced patent application entitled “Systemand Method for Account Establishment and Transaction Management UsingInterrupt Messaging,” to notify a called (or calling) party of a message(or of the delivery of a message), and/or to establish a connection fordelivering a message. For example, called party 103 may place or receivea call through call application manger 101 to/from calling party 100 n(FIG. 1), messaging system 20 may recognize that called party 103 has amessage awaiting delivery and implement interrupt messaging to notifycalled party 103 of the message and/or deliver the message to calledparty 103. Message trigger logic 206 of embodiments of the presentinvention may operate to recognize calling activity with respect to thecalled party independent of call application manager 101 for use indetermining when the called party (or if appropriate, the calling party)may be notified of a pending message. For example, embodiments ofmessage trigger logic 206 implement intelligent network queries,including those shown and described in the above referenced patententitled “System and Method for Call Treatment,” in determining when acalled party is available to receive notification of a pending message.

It should be appreciated that message triggering logic 206 ofembodiments of the present invention is not limited to messagenotification and delivery functions. For example, message triggeringlogic 206 may provide information to user database 202, such as numberof failed attempts at contacting the called party, address at which thecalled party was successfully contacted, etcetera, for later use, suchas by user identification logic 210 and/or address identification logic201.

After called party 103 (or other identified parties) responds to thepending message notification or the pending message notification isotherwise delivered to the called party, billing authorization logic 211of the illustrated embodiment may be invoked to ensure that payment forthe message delivery service is properly addressed before the message isactually delivered to called party 103. For example, where calling party100 has provided account information or has otherwise agreed to pay forthe message delivery service, billing authorization logic 211 may deductthe cost of the message delivery service from the appropriate account(e.g., in a “pay only if the message is delivered” business model) orconfirm that payment has been made. However, where the calling party hasnot made arrangements for payment of the message delivery service, suchas in a collect calling scenario, embodiments of the invention utilizebilling authorization logic 211 to have the called party (or alternateparties) authorize payment for the message delivery service. Forexample, called party 103 may authorize LEC billing (much like atraditional collect call), may authorize direct billing, may providecredit or debit account information, may provide check by phone,etcetera, through interaction with billing authorization logic 211.Additionally or alternatively, embodiments of the present inventionutilize billing authorization logic 211 to establish an account forpayment for message delivery services, both immediately and in thefuture. Details with respect to automated systems for establishing suchaccounts dynamically are provided in the above referenced patentapplication entitled “System and Method for Account Establishment andTransaction Management Using Interrupt Messaging.”

It should be appreciated that the aforementioned accounts which may beutilized in paying for message delivery services need not bespecifically created for use with message delivery services. Forexample, calling party 100 may have a commissary account, such asprovided by transaction management systems disclosed in the abovereferenced patent application entitled “Information Management andMovement System and Method,” which may be identified and debited formessaging services according to the present invention.

Billing authorization logic 211 preferably determines the proper formatfor billing and, perhaps in cooperation with called party authorizationlogic 210, whether or not the called party is approved to use theselected payment method. For example, once the called party approves acharge, such as to be LEC billed or direct billed, called partyauthorization logic 210 may operate to ensure that the called partymeets an acceptable amount of risk on payment. Where the called partyauthorizes more immediate payment, such as a charge to a credit, debit,or pre-paid account, called party authorization logic 210 may operate todebit the appropriate account. The payment options can be made callspecific so that they depend upon a particular called party creditrating, which, in turn, depends upon credit risk, call type, time ofstorage, etc.

It should be appreciated that operation of billing authorization logic211 and called party authorization logic 210 is not limited to theacceptance and processing of billing authorization. For example, billingauthorization logic 211 and/or called party authorization logic 210 mayprovide information to user database 202, such as credit scoring(decile) information, a type of account used to pay for message deliveryservices, etcetera, for later use, such as by user identification logic210 and/or address identification logic 201.

Once payment for the message delivery service is confirmed or otherwiseaccounted for by billing authorization logic 211 and called partyauthorization logic 210 of one embodiment, the message may thenpreferably be retrieved by message retrieval logic 207. For example,message retrieval logic 207 may communicate with message storage drive204 to retrieve the message recorded by calling party 100 and/orancillary data associated therewith. The message is preferably passed onto message delivery logic 208 for delivery to called party 103.

It should be appreciated that the connection between messaging system 20and called party 103 may be established by messaging system 20, e.g.,messaging triggering logic 206 contacting the called party to notify thecalled party of a pending message or message delivery logic 208contacting the called party to delivery the retrieved message.Alternatively, the connection between messaging system 20 and calledparty 103 may not be established by messaging system 20, e.g., callingparty 103 calling messaging system 20 to retrieve messages. Additionallyor alternatively, embodiments of the present invention may operate tomonitor calling activity with respect to the called party and implementinterrupt messaging, including those shown and described in the abovereferenced patent application entitled “System and Method for AccountEstablishment and Transaction Management Using Interrupt Messaging,” toestablish a connection for delivering a message, as discussed above.

After receiving the message, the called party may be given severaloptions regarding the message, such as may be presented by messageoption logic 209. For instance, message option logic 209 could, at thecalled party's request, repeat the message, save the message, forwardthe message, record a message to be returned to the calling party, andthe like. Depending on the option chosen, other hardware or software notshown in FIG. 2 may be invoked. For instance, messaging system 20 couldbe set up so that repeating the message carries no additional charge.However, saving the message, or recording a return message, mightrequire an additional fee. If so, then additional billing authorizationlogic might be utilized or billing authorization logic 211 and/or calledparty authorization logic 210 may be invoked by message option logic209. Further, if the message were to be forwarded, billing authorizationlogic 211 and to ensure that address authorization logic 201 might beadapted to ensure that the message would be paid for and to ensure thatthe forwarded party is authorized to receive messages from the callingand called parties. Depending on the option chosen, logic might beinvoked to ensure the forwarded message was going to an authorizedparty, as is described above with respect to the initial recipient ofthe message. If a return message is desired, it might be appropriate todetermine if such message is appropriate for such a calling party. Inthe context of this patent, an “authorized” party can be a partyspecifically named, or could be any party not on a restricted list, orparties that are within (or outside) certain categories. For example,law enforcement offices might be a restricted category. The list of“authorized” parties can be different depending upon the identity of theparty leaving the original message. The system could, if desired, informthe forwarding party of a restriction and request another number.

FIG. 3 shows flowchart 30 illustrating one example of the operation ofmessaging system 20 from the perspective of a called party, such ascalling party 103, having a message waiting in the system. According tothe embodiment of FIG. 3, called party 103, or any other party beingnotified of a stored message, interacts with messaging system 20 toidentify him/herself and, perhaps, authorize payment for the messagedelivery service. Further, as discussed, the called party may haveseveral options relating to the message after retrieval.

Initially, at step 301 a message indicator conveys to called party 103that a message awaits retrieval. As discussed above, the notification tothe called party can be a preset signal, a call placed to the calledparty, an indicator specified by calling party 100 when the message wasstored in messaging system 20, etcetera. For example, calling party 100could have specified an e-mail address for the called party and,therefore, message indicator step 301 may send an e-mail to inform thecalled party that a message is available. Alternatively, the calledparty could receive a phone call at message indicator step 301 informingthe called party that a message from calling party 100 is available.

At step 302 messaging system 20 may communicate to the called party theidentity of the message sender, the duration of the message, the cost ofthe message, and the like. At step 303 the called party has the optionto accept or decline delivery of the message. If the called partydeclines delivery of the message at step 303, then, from the calledparty's perspective, messaging system 20 would terminate (e.g., thephone connection would be hung-up or the e-mail deleted) at step 304.Messaging system 20 may delete the message from the storage facilitywhen delivery is declined by the called party. With e-mail notification,the message could be deleted after a pre-set period of time withoutresponse.

If the called party chooses to accept delivery of the message at step303, then step 305 of the illustrated embodiment invokes billingauthorization functionality to begin processing the payment options. Ifthe called party was notified of the message via telephone and themessage delivery service has not been paid for by the calling party, forexample, the called party may receive voice prompts regarding how themessage delivery service is to be paid for. Alternatively, if the calledparty was notified of the message via e-mail, the called party mayaccess the system via telephone, identify him/herself and then proceedto billing authorization step 305. Of course, there is no limitationaccording to the present invention that messages be delivered viatelephone. Accordingly, the called party could access messaging system20 via a data network, such as the Internet, etcetera.

It should be appreciated that the called party's options with respect toa message are not limited to accepting or declining delivery of amessage. For example, the called party, whether accepting the message ordeclining the message, may be provided options with respect to providingfeedback regarding the message being undesired (e.g., harassing).According to one embodiment, a called party is provided an option toblock future attempts at delivery of similar messages, e.g., blockingmessages from the same called party (such as may be identified bycalling number, a facility from which the message was taken, callingparty PIN or PAN, calling party voice print, etcetera), blockingmessages from the same facility, blocking messages having the same orsimilar content (such as may be recognized by speech to text and/or textanalysis), blocking all messages from the message delivery system,etcetera. Such called party feedback may additionally or alternativelyprovide reporting of the situation with respect to the message toothers, such as a facility for which the calling services are providedand/or a service provider of the calling services. Such reports mayinclude such information as the name of the calling party, the name ofthe called party, the dialed number, the calling party's recordedutterances (e.g., name), and/or the like. Accordingly, a called partymay be enabled to stop and/or report harassing messages with littleeffort. Message delivery systems of embodiments of the present inventionmay be configurable to allow an operator thereof to configure suchoptions and/or the extent and recipient of the aforementioned reports onsuch basis as the particular facility, the particular calling party, theparticular called party, the type of message, etcetera.

Regardless of the means chosen to retrieve the message, the step 305 ofthe illustrated embodiment confirms that payment for the messagedelivery service is provided for, whether the called party entersinformation for billing, the calling party provided information forbilling, etcetera. For instance, the called party could have the cost ofthe message charged to their telephone bill or credit card (if thecalled party is credit approved). Alternatively, a frequent user of themessage recording system could have a personal account set up where thesystem bills them individually, or a debit account, or a prepaid accountcould be used.

Once billing authorization has been confirmed at step 305, theillustrated embodiment proceeds to step 307 wherein party authorizationis provided to determine whether or not the called party is approved touse the selected payment method and, if so, to deduct the appropriatecharges for the message delivery service. Thereafter, the message may beretrieved and played or delivered electronically to the called party atstep 307.

When delivery of the message if finished, step 308 may determine iffurther messaging options are to be presented to the called party. If nofurther messaging options are to be presented to the called party,processing according to the illustrated embodiment proceeds to step 309wherein communication with the called party is terminated. However, iffurther messaging options are to be presented to the called party,processing according to the illustrated embodiment proceeds to step 310wherein the called party is allowed to choose from a variety of options.It should be appreciated that some, or all, of the messaging optionscould require a fee. For instance, repeating a message could be a freeservice, while forwarding a message or sending a return message couldhave a charge associated therewith.

One option which may be available via step 310 is the repeat messageoption of step 311. Proceeding to repeat message step 311 from messageoptions step 310 returns processing to message playback step 307.

Another option which may be available via step 310 is the save messageoption of step 312. Proceeding to save message step 312 preferablyresults in the message being marked as saved and/or copied to a longterm storage archive. Accordingly, the called party would have theoption to save the message on the storage facility and then be able tolater retrieve the message. In some embodiments this may include billingand/or party authorization step 314 (which may operate as describedabove with respect to steps 305 and 306). For instance, the called partymight enter information regarding the billing method and whether or nota personal account was desired.

Another option which may be available via step 310 is the forwardmessage option of step 313. Proceeding to forward message step 313preferably results in the message being scheduled for delivery to yetanother party. When the forward message option is selected, processingmay proceed to step 314 wherein billing and/or party authorization (suchas described above with respect to steps 305 and 306) is performed.Additionally or alternatively, step 314 may operate to insure that thecalled party was not forwarding the message to an unauthorized party.

If available, and if chosen by the called party, a return message isrecorded by the called party and stored in, for example, storage drive204 via delivery logic 208. Once stored, such a message is delivered tothe calling party, via message storage/retrieval logic 203, either whenthe calling party next uses the system or by notification to the callingparty and retrieval by the calling party as is discussed herein formessages going to called parties.

Note that while the description discusses a called party, in actualitythat called party could be a telephone station, either wireline orwireless, answerable by any person. Or it could be the identity of aspecific individual such that the telephone network would find theindividual and the call placed to a telephone station in proximity tothat individual. Also note that the stored message could be video, text,audio or a combination thereof. The structure for controlling theoperation described herein could be hardware, software, or a combinationthereof and in practice it is anticipated that the message systemdescribed herein will be combined with a call processing platform of thetype supplied by Evercom Systems, Inc., the assignee of the presentinvention, and known as CALL APPLICATION MANAGER.

Although the present invention and its advantages have been described indetail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions andalterations can be made herein without departing from the invention asdefined by the appended claims. Moreover, the scope of the presentapplication is not intended to be limited to the particular embodimentsof the process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, means,methods and steps described in the specification. As one will readilyappreciate from the disclosure, processes, machines, manufacture,compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps, presently existing orlater to be developed that perform substantially the same function orachieve substantially the same result as the corresponding embodimentsdescribed herein may be utilized. Accordingly, the appended claims areintended to include within their scope such processes, machines,manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps.

While the illustrative embodiment discussed above is described for usein a prison environment, the concepts could be used in many situationsfor allowing a calling party to store a message for a called party wherethe called party can retrieve the message at the leisure of the calledparty, provided only that the called party is willing to pay for thedelivery of the message. One example of such a system is a relativecalling home from the armed services where the calling party only has alimited time to place the call and may or may not have the ability topay for the call. In some situations, the system could be used fortime-shifting the call such that it does not ring the called number for,say, six hours after the original call was placed.

1. A method comprising: performing, via a computer system, identifying acollect call placed by a calling party to a called party; in response tothe collect call being blocked, allowing the calling party to record avoice message for the called party in response to a determination thatthe called party has previously accepted at least one collect call fromthe calling party, the voice message delivered to the called party inresponse to a called party's agreement to pay for the voice message; inresponse to the voice message being delivered to the called party,allowing the called party to record a return voice message for deliveryto the calling party; and in response to the called party recording thereturn voice message, causing the calling party to be informed that thereturn voice message is available to the calling party.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the collect call is blocked in response to the callingparty being prohibited from communicating directly with the calledparty.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the calling party is allowed torecord the voice message if the called party has previously accepted atleast one communication from the calling party.
 4. The method of claim1, wherein the calling party is allowed to record the voice message ifthe called party has previously accepted at least one communication fromanother calling party.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the callingparty is allowed to record the voice message if a cost of the collectcall does not exceed a certain amount.
 6. The method of claim 1, whereinthe calling party is allowed to record the voice message if an identityof the calling party is validated.
 7. The method of claim 6, whereinvalidating the identity of the calling party comprises employingbiometric comparison configured to analyze a biometric sample providedby the calling party.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the calledparty's agreement to pay for the voice message includes a called party'sagreement to pay a reverse charge associated with the collect call. 9.The method of claim 1, wherein the called party's agreement to pay forthe voice message includes at least one of a credit card payment, aprepaid arrangement, or an immediate payment.
 10. The method of claim 1,wherein at least one of the calling party or the called party is withina prison facility.
 11. The method of claim 10, further comprisingperforming, via the computer system, allowing prison administration toreview at least one of the voice message or the return voice message.12. A method comprising: performing, via a computer system, identifyinga collect call placed by a calling party to a called party; in responseto the collect call being blocked, allowing the calling party to recorda voice message for the called party, in response to a determinationthat the called party has previously accepted at least one collect callfrom another calling party; the voice message delivered to the calledparty in response to a called party's agreement to pay for the voicemessage; in response to the voice message being delivered to the calledparty, allowing the called party to record a return voice message fordelivery to the calling party; and in response to the called partyrecording the return voice message, causing the calling party to beinformed that the return voice message is available to the callingparty.
 13. A tangible computer-readable storage medium including programinstructions stored thereon that, upon execution by a computer system,cause the computer system to: block an attempt by a calling party toplace a collect call to a called party in response to a determinationthat the calling party is forbidden from communicating directly with thecalled party; allow the calling party to record a voice message for thecalled party if the called party has previously accepted at least onecollect call, the voice message delivered to the called party inresponse to a called party's agreement to pay for the voice message; inresponse to the voice message being delivered to the called party, allowthe called party to record a return voice message for delivery to thecalling party; and in response to the called party recording the returnvoice message, inform the calling party that the return voice message isavailable to the calling party.
 14. The tangible computer-readablestorage medium of claim 13, wherein to allow the calling party to recordthe voice message, the program instructions, upon execution by thecomputer system, further cause the computer system to allow the callingparty to record the voice message in response to a determination that acost of the collect call does not exceed a certain amount.
 15. Thetangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein thecalled party's agreement to pay for the voice message includes a calledparty's agreement to pay a reverse charge associated with the collectcall.
 16. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 13,wherein the program instructions, upon execution by the computer system,further cause the computer system to allow a third party to review atleast one of the voice message or the return voice message.
 17. Atangible computer-readable storage medium including program instructionsstored thereon that, upon execution by a computer system, cause thecomputer system to: block an attempt by a calling party to place acollect call to a called party in response to a determination that thecalling party is forbidden from communicating directly with the calledparty; allow the calling party to record a voice message for the calledparty if the called party has previously accepted at least one voicemessage, the voice message delivered to the called party in response toa called party's agreement to pay for the voice message; in response tothe voice message being delivered to the called party, allow the calledparty to record a return voice message for delivery to the callingparty; and in response to the called party recording the return voicemessage, inform the calling party that the return voice message isavailable to the calling party.
 18. A system comprising: a processor;and a memory coupled to the processor, the memory configured to storeprogram instructions that, upon execution by the processor, cause thesystem to: identify an attempt by a calling party to place a collectcall to a called party; block the attempt in response to the callingparty being prohibited from communicating directly with the calledparty; and allow the calling party to record a voice message for thecalled party in response to a determination that the called party haspreviously accepted at least one collect call, the voice messagedelivered to the called party in response to a called party's agreementto pay for the voice message.
 19. The system of claim 18, wherein toallow the calling party to record the voice message, the programinstructions, upon execution by the processor, further cause the systemto allow the calling party to record the voice message in response to adetermination that the called party has previously accepted at least onecommunication.
 20. The system of claim 18, wherein to allow the callingparty to record the voice message, the program instructions, uponexecution by the processor, further cause the system to allow thecalling party to record the voice message in response to a determinationthat a cost of the collect call does not exceed a certain amount. 21.The system of claim 18, wherein the called party's agreement to pay forthe voice message includes a called party's agreement to a pay reversecharge associated with the collect call.
 22. The system of claim 18,wherein the program instructions, upon execution by the processor,further cause the system to: in response to the voice message beingdelivered to the called party, allow the called party to record a returnvoice message for delivery to the calling party; and in response to thecalled party recording the return voice message, inform the callingparty that the return voice message is available to the calling party.23. The system of claim 22, wherein the program instructions, uponexecution by the processor, further cause the system to allow a thirdparty to review at least one of the voice message or the return voicemessage.